Of Kittens and Monsters
by MsMacBeth10
Summary: Even though she was twenty-three, Sakura has never had a boyfriend thanks to her annoying, overprotective brother. Syaoran never backed down from a challenge, even if it took the form of a certain man named Toya Kinomoto. Did I mention he also happened to be Sakura's new boss?
1. Welcome to Hong Kong!

"I HATE YOU, TOYA!" Sakura screamed, shattering a vase onto the ground in rage. It felt good to finally let her feelings out.

Her stupid brother had the nerve to chuckle. "Then it's a good thing I didn't let any of those poor guys near you, monster. You could have killed them with such violent tendencies."

"I'm almost twenty-three and I have yet to get a boyfriend!" she ranted on, giving him a death glare. "And it's all your fault for sending them away! Ugh, that's it! After I graduate from college, I'll move far, far away where you will never bother me or my boyfriends again!"

"And where do you think you're going, monster?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He clearly doubted that she was old enough to live by herself.

Sakura hesitated. She hadn't planned that far ahead yet!

Thankfully, it was then she remembered a conversation she had recently had with her best friend-slash-cousin, Tomoyo Daidouji. Tomoyo was planning on opening a branch of Daidouji's Fashions in Hong Kong after graduation, which would require her to stay for the first three years of business to make sure that everything ran smoothly. Sakura had resigned to not seeing her friend for three years, but this would be the perfect opportunity for her to go with Tomoyo.

She grinned at Toya triumphantly. "Hong Kong! And I won't be by myself, because Tomoyo will be coming with me! Ha!"

He still didn't seem convinced. "What job would you have in Hong Kong? You can't even speak the language, can you?"

"I can work as a model for Tomoyo," she promptly answered. This was something the two had discussed many times, even during high school. It was their dream to be able to work together (although Sakura was a little reluctant on her part, thinking about all the fancy dresses she'd have to wear). "Then I won't even have to say anything. A picture is worth a thousand words, you know," she finished, quoting Tomoyo's favorite phrase.

He smirked, shrugging nonchalantly. "Just don't come crying to me before you even get there."

"Of course I won't!" she promised. "I'll show you, Toya! I'm not a kid anymore!"

With a final glare at her brother, she turned and stormed out of her house.

* * *

><p>But it was easier said than done.<p>

Sakura groaned. She almost wanted to run back, crying, to her brother. Almost.

She probably _would _have, if she still had her luggage and purse with her! But no, some thief felt that it would be awesome for him to steal all her belongings while she had been studying a map at the airport, leaving her with nothing but her passport and cell phone (which, thankfully, she had kept in her pocket).

She sighed. Maybe she should call Tomoyo and have her come pick her up...She shook her head furiously. No, no, she couldn't do that. She was here to surprise her friend, and the last thing she wanted was to ruin everything because she had been careless. This was her problem, so she would have to solve it on her own. That'll show her brother!

But the question was...how? She didn't have money for a taxi. She didn't know anyone in Hong Kong besides Tomoyo. She didn't even know how to speak the stupid language, for heaven's sake!

There were only two options she could take. She would either have to walk...or hitchhike, if there were any people that would willingly help a strange girl. _At least it's worth a try_, she thought glumly, walking out of the airport.

For the next few hours, which, to her, felt like infinity, she stood by the curb and tried not to look stupid, but no stranger was kind enough to stop and ask her if she needed help. By the time the sun had began to set, her arm felt as though it was falling off, she was tired, hungry, and felt completely miserable. She didn't think her arm could handle any more of this suffering, but by then, it was too late for her to walk to Tomoyo's. There was only one thing she could do now.

If no car would willingly stop for her, then she would just have to _force _one to. It probably wasn't the best idea, but when her brain was tired, she really didn't care about the consequences anymore.

Her eyes skimmed the road, searching for her victim. It didn't take long for another car to come zooming at her, and...holy crap, was that a Mercedes _Coupe_?! That extremely limited edition car that wasn't supposed to be released yet? Sakura herself had no interest in cars, but living with an annoying brother who did caught up with her, and it wasn't long before she could recognize car brands just like him.

She knew she couldn't miss this one. She imagined telling Toya that she had ridden a limited edition car while she was in Hong Kong - that would definitely make him jealous!

As the car came toward her, she took a deep breath and leapt into the middle of the road, waving her arms wildly about her head in an attempt to catch the driver's attention. She probably looked like a dancing gorilla, but all she wanted was to get off that damn road.

She heard the ground screech as the driver slammed down on the breaks abruptly, sending the car swirling and spinning right at her. She squeezed her eyes shut, only opening them when she heard a loud _clang_!, caused by the car's wheels scraping against the curb. She winced when the car finally skidded to a halt in front of her, missing her body by merely a few inches.

The door flung open as the car's driver revealed himself to her. Even in the setting sun, his appearance made her breath catch. For a moment, she could only stare at his messy brown hair, buttoned white shirt, and dark khaki pants. By his appearance, she guessed that he must be in some sort of business corporation.

Sakura's cheeks flushed when she realized that the man was evidently waiting for her to speak. He had caught her staring. "I...uh..."

Now that a stranger was finally standing in front of her, she seemed to have lost the ability to speak with coherent sentences. Even if she could, he wouldn't be able to understand her anyway. "N-Ni hao?" she tried, saying the only Chinese words that she had learned from Tomoyo. He could probably tell from her accent that she was not native.

He glared at her. "Yi dian bu hao," he answered curtly. She had no idea what he meant, but from the way he was glaring at her, she guessed that he probably wasn't feeling very happy at the moment. She couldn't blame him. She knew she had to apologize, but she didn't know the words for "I'm sorry", so she would have to get down on her knees and beg for forgiveness. At least that was universal.

She promptly sank down to the ground, feeling rather ridiculous that she was kneeling to a complete stranger on the side of the road. What if he was a serial killer and sliced her head off while she was at it!? The back of her neck _was _perfectly open.

No, no, don't think about such things now, Sakura, she scolded herself. She couldn't make herself more scared than she already was.

And then, to her surprise, he suddenly burst out laughing. "T-That was priceless!" he gasped in _perfect_ Japanese, wiping tears out of his eyes. "It's not everyday a stranger does _that_ to you!"

Sakura stared. She couldn't quite believe that he was speaking her language. How dare he make a fool of her by pretending that he didn't know!

"You knew!" she accused. Screw his good looks. She was beginning to like him less and less.

"You did damage my car, Kitten," he pointed out, gesturing at the scraped paint.

"Isn't it just paint?" she asked dryly.

He shook his head. "No, no. This is a limited edition car. The paint is limited edition, too, so you can't just find the exact shade of it at some random paint store."

"Oh..." Sakura trailed off, then she remembered his earlier words. Her mind was a little slow sometimes, not that she wanted to admit it. "Why'd you call me Kitten? I'm not a kitten!"

He smirked at her. "Only kittens would do something as crazy as jumping into the middle of the road with a car driving right toward you."

He did have a point.

"I do have a name, you know," she said. "I'm Sakura. Sakura Kinomoto. What's your name?"

He gave her a strange look. "So you jumped in front of my car without knowing who I am? Just how crazy are you!?"

She tipped her head to one side in confusion. "A-Am I supposed to know who you are?" Wait - maybe... "Then you _are _a serial killer!" she gasped, pointing a finger at him. "You must be wanted by all of Hong Kong!"

He choked. "Why the hell would a serial killer drive such an expensive car?"

"You...stole it?" she offered.

"That would be like they were begging the police to catch them," he said with a snort. "Of course I'm not a serial killer! Does the name Xiao Lang Li ring a bell?"

Of course it didn't. She never paid attention to famous people in China. "Well...Li is a pretty common last name," she suggested.

He buried his face in his hand and let out a sigh of exasperation. "What am I going to do with you, Kitten?"

"You could offer me a ride? That's sort of why I jumped in front of your car in the first place," she asked hopefully.

"Me, the boss of Li Industries - which also happens to be one of China's leading businesses, by the way - becoming chauffeur for the strange girl who ruined his car? What is the world going to think?" he asked, throwing his hands up dramatically.

Sakura's jaw dropped at this new revelation. She was speaking to the _boss_ of Li Industries!? She suddenly wished she could faint just then, but no, the world had to be cruel to her by keeping her perfectly awake. Finally, she managed in a small voice, "The world would think that you are a very nice person?"

He scoffed. "Look, Kitten, businessmen are hardly ever _nice _people. We lie all the time."

Sakura shivered as a gust of cold wind blew toward them. Wordlessly, he pointed his hand at the passenger door, and Sakura jumped in all too eagerly.

Syaoran pulled the car away from the curb. "Did your mother ever tell you not to get into strangers' cars?" he asked dryly, watching her as she studied the inside of the Mercedes with awe.

Sakura stopped her examination of his car and lowered her eyes. "My...My mother died when I was three," she muttered. "So no, she didn't."

He wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry," he mumbled finally. "I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's alright," Sakura reassured him, trying to smile but failing miserably. It made her look as if she was grimacing. Thank goodness his eyes were focused on the road, so he wouldn't be able to see the pained expression on her face. "It's been so long ago now that I don't really remember her. And besides, you're not a stranger."

"Just because you know my name doesn't make me your friend," he pointed out. "A lot of people know my name. But I'm not friends with them."

"Well, then," she said. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-five," he promptly answered. "But everyone knows that, too."

She didn't. She was even more surprised that he was the boss of some major company even though he was only two years older than her. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Not at the moment. Though everyone knows that, too. _And_ they are all very happy." Well, that was good to know.

Sakura snorted. "I can imagine. What's your favorite food?"

He was surprised that she had changed the subject. He had expected her to interrogate him on his love life, like what normal teenage girls would do, and that wasn't something he wanted to discuss with someone he picked off from the side of the road. It took him a while before he had an answer. "Dim sum."

She grinned triumphantly. "That's not something the public would know, is it?"

Before he could answer, her stomach growled loudly. She flushed and hid her stomach behind her arms, not that it concealed the embarrassing noises that filled the car.

"When was the last time you ate today, Kitten?" Syaoran asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"This...morning?" she remembered. At his look of disbelief, she defended, "It's not my fault the thief took all my money at the airport!"

He held back a laugh. "No wonder you jumped in front of my car."

"No, I was hoping you would kill me," she said sarcastically.

"Then you wouldn't be able to pay for the damage," he reminded her.

Sakura had completely forgotten about that tiny detail. "I wouldn't have been able to pay you back now even if I wanted to," she said, making a face. "I have no money."

"Of course. How could I forget?" He asked, his voice filled with sarcasm. "In that case, you'll have to work for me, without pay, until you've covered the repair fee."

"But I don't even know how to speak Chinese!" she protested.

He switched on the right turn signal, telling her that he was exiting the highway. "You don't need to. You'll be my personal assistant. All you have to do is pour tea for my guests and smile."

That sounded simple enough. Sakura couldn't complain. She owed him so much already. "Alright, I'll do it," she agreed.

Somehow, she had managed to lose everything _and_ find a job all during her first day in Hong Kong. She felt a little overwhelmed, not even paying attention as he parked the car and gestured at her to get out. "Where are we?"

"At a restaurant. You did say you were hungry, right?"

Her cheeks red with embarrassment, she quickly scrambled out of the car and followed him in. Along the way, she noticed that he had pulled out his cellphone, a grim expression on his face.

"Meiling? You're fired."

* * *

><p>An: that seemed like a good place to stop XDD I actually wanted to split the chapter so that chapter one would be just the first half, but I felt that would be too short so I ended up writing more.

Anyway, is it worth continuing? Like it? Hate it? Leave a review and let me know~ ;)


	2. Kitten or Monster?

"Meiling? You're fired."

Syaoran had to hold his phone a foot away from his ear when he heard his cousin's furious screech from the other end. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, LI SYAORAN!?_" _

He sighed. Dealing with his cousin was going to be a pain. "I said, 'You're fired'."

"I heard you the first time," Meiling grumbled, calming down a little. "But _why_, Syaoran? Aren't you happy with me? What did I do wrong? Was it because I spilled coffee on Mr. San's pants last week? That was an accident! He forgave me! And - "

"I know, I know," Syaoran interrupted, knowing that she would ramble on if given the chance. "I'm not angry at you for that. We did promise that I would let you go when I found another assistant, right? You were only a temporary replacement for the last one."

"Oh..." Meiling was hardly upset, however, because this news had perked her interest. Syaoran was especially picky when it came to his assistants - and she couldn't blame him after the way some of them had behaved in the past. One had tried to seduce him during office hours, another had put sleeping pills into his drink and attempted to take him back to her house with her, and another had threatened to burn down the entire building if he didn't go out with her.

The things some women did to try and force him to love them...Meiling would never understand. Though she had to admit that her cousin _was _one damn fine man. If they weren't related...

"So now _you're_ calling me 'fine', too?" Syaoran complained.

Oops. Did she say that out loud? "I didn't mean it," Meiling said quickly. "So, what's this girl like?"

Syaoran looked over at Sakura, who was dancing up and down to stop herself from getting cold. "This girl is either crazy or just really stupid, and if we don't get inside right now, she's going to freeze her butt off. Talk to you later."

He hung up.

Meiling stared at the phone for a minute, wondering what kind of girl his new assistant was. She was going to have to go pay them a visit.

"Come on, Kitten. You could have went on ahead," Syaoran said, grabbing Sakura's wrist and pulling her inside.

Sakura gave him an odd look. "I wouldn't have been able to understand anything," she pointed out. "Who was it you were..." she stopped mid-sentence when they entered the room, her eyes widening as she took in their surroundings. He had taken her to dim sum place!

"Oh wow," she breathed, her stomach rumbling again at the sight and smells of food in front of her. Syaoran whispered something to the servers, and all of a sudden they began asking the customers to leave. They left one by one, some grumbling in annoyance, until the restaurant was completely empty besides the Sakura and Syaoran. "Did I...did I miss something? Is the restaurant closing?" she asked warily.

"No, it's not," Syaoran told her. "I asked them to leave so we could have some privacy."

She stared at him. "You can do that?!"

"Anything can be done when money is involved," he said mysteriously, giving her a wink. "Come on, let's not keep the the server waiting."

She trailed after him, not knowing what to think about her new boss. They were led into a private room for two (she didn't think such booths existed, but then again, what he demonstrated earlier showed that there were many things that she still didn't know), and Syaoran promptly began listing orders without even glancing at the menu. She guessed that he must come here quite often.

Once the waitress had left, she lifted her eyebrow at him. "Did we really need to be in a private room _inside _an already private room?"

"You don't know who might be listening in," he explained, gazing rather intently at the teapot until Sakura realized what he meant.

"I can't believe this," she muttered, leaning forward so she could pour the tea for him. "There, happy?"

"You _are _my assistant now. It's never too early to start," he said, giving her a smirk. "Besides, it would be good to practice before you have to serve my important guests."

She may have disliked him before, but now she was really beginning to hate him. She contemplated putting poison into his tea, but then decided against it. She did owe him for helping her during her crisis, after all.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, taking a sip of the tea that she poured for herself. A feeling of warmth instantly enveloped her, and she let out a sigh of content. She hadn't drank anything since that morning. "Ah, that hit the spot..." Trying to make conversation, she added, "What kind of guests do you have?"

"All sorts of people," he explained, pulling out a pocket book and flipping through it. "Whether they're old or young, or from other countries. In fact...I have a guest I'm meeting tomorrow who's also from Japan."

Sakura found herself holding her breath as she waited for him to continue.

"I think she's around your age, too. She's starting a fashion shop here," he continued reporting his notes.

Wait a minute. He couldn't be talking about...

"Daidouji Tomoyo."

"No way!" she exclaimed, standing up in surprise. Her sudden movement caused the poor waitress, who was just happening to be setting down a dish next to her, to lose her balance and nearly fall over if Syaoran hadn't intervened in time by catching her with his arms.

"Careful there," he said. "Wouldn't want to waste any food, would we? Kitten here has a particularly large appetite tonight," he added, gesturing at Sakura.

She squeaked an answer and blushed.

Sakura narrowed her eyes as the waitress turned and escaped from the room. "I think you just scared off the waitress, Li," she said dryly.

"Oh, she'll come back," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "So, what made you startle our wonderful waitress?"

"Our _wonderful _waitress would have loved to hear that from your mouth," Sakura mocked, but he merely rolled his eyes at her. "I can't believe you're actually meeting Tomoyo! She's the reason I came to Hong Kong," she added. He looked at her sympathetically, and with a jolt of horror she understood his meaning. He had mistook her for one of those obsessed fans!

"No, no, it's not like that!" she went on hastily, "Tomoyo and I have been best friends since we were young. I wanted to surprise her by coming to live with her now without telling her, but then that earlier fiasco happened at the airport..."

He still didn't look convinced.

Sakura sighed and pulled out her cellphone, finding the last photo they had taken together before Tomoyo had left for Hong Kong. "See? I have proof." She paused, wondering why the hell she was explaining it to him if he didn't believe her. He probably thought she had edited the photos and put the two of them together. "Oh, never mind. I'll show you tomorrow," she snapped finally.

Soon enough, the waitress returned with more food. She still looked embarrassed around Syaoran, and quickly left again as soon as she had set the dishes down in front of them.

Sakura's eyes widened at the amount of dishes. "Just how much did you order, Li!?"

"A lot," he shrugged. "You did say you were hungry right, Kitten? And besides, these are all the dishes that you must try at least once while you're in Hong Kong. So I got them for you."

"Wow, thanks very much," she said dryly. She didn't think she could eat them all. But oh well. Food was food, and if he was offering them for free - from her pay, actually - then she was going to happily accept it. "Itadakimasu~" she sang, digging into the food with her chopsticks eagerly.

That was when she realized just how hungry she was, _and _just how delicious the dim sum was. Damn, this was going to be her new favorite food, thanks to Li. She hated the thought of owing him even more.

She looked up from her meal to see that her new boss was simply sitting there, watching her eat with an amused expression on his face.

"What's so funny?" she mumbled around a mouthful. But with food in her mouth, her words sounded more like "Whash so fanay?"

"What was that?"

Sakura swallowed. "What's so funny?" she repeated, glaring at him.

"You are," he answered, sounding like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You eat like a...monster!"

Sakura was suddenly very glad that she had just swallowed, otherwise she would definitely have choked on her mouthful. "Why you..." she growled. If Li was going to start calling her a monster like her brother, she was going to murder someone. Her grip tightened around her chopsticks, and she took pleasure in imagining her poking Li's eyes out with them.

He leaned away from her, holding his hands up in defeat when he saw the murderous glint in her eyes. The woman was clearly dangerous. "I was just kidding," he said quickly. "You're not a monster. You're a kitten."

That didn't make Sakura feel much better, but anything was better than monster. She let out a huff before settling back to eat her dinner in peace. Li thankfully learned his lesson and left her alone and turned to his cellphone for company, though he was secretly eyeing her now and then without her knowledge.

He didn't know what to think of her. In the few hours he had known her, she could be nice sometimes, but she was definitely more scary. She was nothing like the women he knew how to deal with, and to him she was like a breath of fresh air. He found that he wouldn't mind living with someone like her for the rest of his life, if she was able to make his life more interesting and entertaining.

_Whoa, whoa, what the hell was that!? _

Little did Syaoran know that Sakura was also shooting him furtive glances across the table whenever he wasn't looking at her. Never before had she been so worked up over a guy, and she'd only known him for a few hours! She studied his features, wondering what part of him was making her act this way. Was it his - she admitted reluctantly that he was rather good looking - face? His captivating brown eyes? His lips - _okay, stop right there, Sakura_!

Or was it his body? His brain?

_It's his brain_, she decided. _He must have hit his head somewhere when he was a baby and developed such a nasty personality. _

And then she couldn't get the thought of baby Li out of her mind. She guessed that he must have been really cute back then.

"Aren't you hungry?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence. She was afraid that her brain would betray her by thinking other disturbing thoughts about her new boss if she didn't speak now.

Her question snapped him out of his own thoughts. "Huh? Oh, Meiling made me something earlier."

Sakura couldn't help but wonder who this mysterious Meiling was. She was pretty sure he had been talking to her earlier on the phone, too. Maybe she was his girlfriend? "Who is she? Meiling, I mean?"

He smirked at her. "Are you jealous, Kitten?"

"Don't answer my question with another question," she shot back. "Besides, why would I be jealous? I have a perfectly wonderful boyfriend back home." By her perfectly wonderful boyfriend, Sakura meant Yukito, who she had had a crush on since her childhood and was the only boy Toya actually permitted her to speak to.

Not that Li needed to know.

"Then you must be breaking your boyfriend's heart, sneaking off to Hong Kong and sitting here with me," he stated.

"I'm not _sneaking_," she protested, then realized with a jolt that he had purposely changed the subject. The sneaky bastard! "So? Who is Meiling?"

Syaoran groaned and slapped his hand against his face. "You caught me, Kitten. Fine, I'll tell you. She's my cousin, who also happened to be the previous assistant before you."

Sakura stared, not knowing whether she should feel relieved or upset. "You fired her just so you could hire me?" she asked incredulously. "Then I can't accept this, Li! I don't want to steal anyone's job!"

She really _was _different from the other assistants Syaoran had worked with in the past, he observed. Unlike Sakura, they would have jumped at the chance to be his assistant. Hell, they would even scare the former assistant away so they could work with him!

"No, it's already done. And she was only a temporary replacement until I found a better assistant, since I had fired the one before her a while ago. It's a long story, don't ask," he added, noticing that she had opened her mouth to speak.

Sakura still didn't look happy. "Either way, I still feel like I should apologize..."

"By getting down on your knees?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her and reminding her of her earlier ordeal.

His only response was a steamed bun hitting him right in the forehead.

* * *

><p>An: Thank you so much for your reviews so far! Here is the second chapter - hope you guys will like it as much as the first~

Like it? Hate it? Leave a review and let me know~ ;)


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